Equatorial Guinea confirms it thwarted ‘coup’ that would have ended President Teodoro Obiang Nguema’s 38-year reign
Obiang took power in a coup in 1979, ousting his own uncle, who was shot by firing squad
The West African state of Equatorial Guinea said on Wednesday it had thwarted “a coup” in late December mounted by mercenaries who sought to attack President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, Africa’s longest-serving leader.
In a statement read on public radio, Security Minister Nicolas Obama Nchama said: “Mercenaries … were recruited by Equatorial Guinean militants from certain radical opposition parties with the support of certain powers.”
The plot had been prevented thanks to an operation carried out “in collaboration with the Cameroon security services”, he said.
The announcement came after Cameroon on December 27 arrested 38 heavily armed men on the border with the tiny state.
Two days later, Equatorial Guinea’s ambassador to France, Miguel Oyono Ndong Mifumu, referred to the incident as an “invasion and destabilisation attempt”.
Mercenaries … were recruited by Equatorial Guinean militants from certain radical opposition parties
The suspects, taken into custody in a bus on the border, had rocket launchers, rifles and a stockpile of ammunition, according to his office.